Stomach bug, sore calf slow Parker

INDIANAPOLIS — Coat already on and a stocking cap pulled low on his head, Spurs point guard Tony Parker sat slumped in front of his locker at Conseco Field House after Friday’s narrow 90-87 victory over Indiana. He looked terrible.

“I feel terrible,” Parker said.

A night earlier, Parker went to bed suffering from chills and vomiting, the effects, he thinks, of a stomach bug going around. By Friday morning, he still felt bad enough to stay behind at the team hotel while the team conducted shootaround at Conseco Fieldhouse.

After warming up before the game, Parker at last felt well enough to play, allowing coach Gregg Popovich to start the same lineup he’s used in every game this season.

But he did not feel well.

“I thought about not playing,” Parker said, “but we needed a win and I didn’t want to hurt the team.”

Though Parker’s spirit was willing, his body was not. Also playing with a sore left calf, which had gotten kicked during a loss to in New York on Tuesday, Parker struggled through his roughest outing in weeks.

He was 3 of 11 from the field with 10 points, needing to hit a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds to go to extend his streak of double-digit scoring nights to 18.

Afterward, Parker took solace in the fact that his current health problems are nothing like the rash of ailments he suffered last season, when various injuries limited him to 56 games.

“It’s not even close,” Parker said. “Just got to fight through it.”

Happy Hill homecoming: Spurs guard George Hill took care of his homecoming business early, wrangling most of the 200 tickets he needed for friends and family to witness his third game in Indianapolis as a professional before he’d even arrived Friday.

He also helped the Spurs take care of business late, converting a key 3-point play that pulled them within 87-86 with 1:07 to go.

The play was drawn up for Hill to take a top-of-the-arc three, but he instead opted to drive and draw a foul on Tyler Hansbrough.

“The only option was to drive,” said Hill, who finished with 16 points but missed 7 of 13 shots. “I saw his hands in, so I tried to draw the foul.”

With the victory, the Spurs moved to 6-0 against the Pacers since Hill joined the team before the 2008-09 season.

“Anytime you’re back home, you want to beat your hometown team,” Hill said. “You can have bragging rights after that.”

Getting physical: For the first three quarters, the Spurs weren’t necessarily having trouble getting defensive stops. They were having severe problems getting rebounds.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Spurs were being outrebounded 39-28. They turned that around by winning the battle on the glass 15-6 in the final frame, a big reason they were able to erase a 15-point deficit.

The Pacers were 1 of 15 from the field in the fourth quarter, giving the Spurs much to rebound. Tim Duncan had seven of his 15 boards in the frame.